Oceanside Police Department Turns Over Almost 8 Years of Videotapes Stashed By Police Officer

June 5, 2009

Recently, the Oceanside Police Department turned over to the San Diego County prosecutors office neary 8 years worth of video tapes of suspect interviews stashed by an Oceanside police officer. It’s not clear if the officer withheld the tapes intentionally or wasn’t aware that he was to turn them over to the defense. Credit goes to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office for notifying defense attorneys of the existence of the video tapes. My guess is that the officer kept the tapes for his own protection in case a suspect may have alleged the officer may have committed some kind of violation of the suspects’ rights. There is no indication if any of the video tapes involved DUI / Drunk Driving arrests.